A Japanese freelance journalist detained by security forces in Myanmar in mid-April and accused of supporting protests against the military coup has been released and departed Yangon for Japan by plane Friday.
Yuki Kitazumi, 45, was arrested in Yangon on April 18 and a military spokesman said Thursday night he had been moved from prison to a police facility, reports UNB.
According to a state-run newspaper on Friday, Kitazumi had been indicted for supporting the anti-coup civil disobedience movement and riots, and for not complying with visa regulations.
The Information Team of the State Administration Council, the military junta's top decision-making body, said the decision to release Kitazumi was made "in consideration of cordial relations between Myanmar and Japan up to now and in view of future bilateral relations, and upon the request of the Japanese government special envoy on Myanmar's national reconciliation," according to state-run TV on Thursday night.
Before Kitazumi was freed, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday morning that the journalist will be released and return to Japan by the end of Friday at the earliest.
"It was the result of efforts made by Ambassador Ichiro Maruyama and other people who tried to seek the early release (of the Japanese journalist) through various channels," Motegi said at the meeting of the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee.
Kitazumi could have faced a jail term of up to three years if convicted under the penal code as amended after the Feb. 1 military coup.
The journalist, who previously worked at the Tokyo-based Nikkei business daily, had covered anti-government protests and posted information deemed to be critical of the military on social media.
Kitazumi had been detained previously while covering an anti-military protest on Feb. 26, but he was released later in the day.
The military has stepped up its crackdown on the press, and according to the internet media "Reporting ASEAN," 80 journalists have been detained.